EA Arts settles labor dispute

Video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. said Wednesday it would pay $15.6 million to settle a class-action lawsuit by computer graphic artists seeking overtime compensation.

The suit, filed in July 2004, alleged the company improperly classified the workers as exempt from overtime and sought unspecified damages.

Under the settlement, which must still be approved by a Superior Court judge, roughly 200 entry-level employees will be reclassified as eligible for overtime pay, said Trudy Miller, an Electronic Arts spokeswoman. They will be able to earn overtime, but will no longer receive stock options.

“We’re moving on, and this is a milestone in what has been an ongoing look at how we work,” Miller said Wednesday.

FedEx to raise overnight rates

Memphis, Tenn. FedEx Corp., one of the nation’s largest shipping companies, announced Wednesday that rates for overnight delivery will increase an average of 3.5 percent beginning next year.

The Memphis-based company said it was raising overall rates for FedEx Express customers 5.5 percent but cutting by 2 percentage points the fuel surcharge applied when oil prices are high.

The rate increase takes effect Jan. 2 and will affect U.S. domestic and U.S. export express package and freight shipments.

More immediately, the company also is changing the rates for customers who don’t have a FedEx Express or FedEx Ground account and ship packages through staffed FedEx locations, including the copy chain Kinko’s.